[Book Review] Tap Dancing to Work : Warren Buffett

Frankly, I wouldn't have picked this book in a library, forget about buying it. 
But when Bill Gates writes a compelling review of a book on his site Gates Notes and your wife brings the review to your notice, you better read the book. 

Last weekend, I finished reading "Tap Dancing to Work: Warren Buffett on Practically Everything", compiled by Carol Loomis, editor of Fortune magazine... and am glad I did read it!

Here are some excerpts...

There is never just one cockroach in the kitchen.

~ Warren Buffett in "Tap Dancing to Work", implying that when you notice a defect/bug/fault, almost always many more exist.

You are never right or wrong just because people agree or disagree with you. You are right because your facts are right and your reasoning is correct.

On management:

I have seen too many companies in which the top management should rather focus on managing the business rather than managing each other.

On his senior managers:

Jack and Bill only do two things: Set clear goals and clear obstacles... including themselves. That's just what any manager should do.

On career:

When selecting a career, choose the work that you would do if you were independently wealthy and didn't have to work for a living. 

On success:

Most people have 400-horsepower of IQ or talent and through sheer laziness they make do with 100-hp output. I would rather have a 200-hp engine and get 150-hp through hard work and focus. 

And, here's the last one... 

Why some smart people succeed and most don't? It's because people get in their own way. Success needs talent, focus, hard work and perseverance; but it's also much to do with rational, logical thinking... doing the right thing no matter what the temptation to do otherwise be.And more than anything, success is about your habits and character. I have one small suggestion for you: Write down the names of five successful people you admire and five good habits you'd like to learn from them. Next write down five habits that you really hate in others. If you make those five good habits your own and avoid those five bad ones, you would go a long way to be successful.

Sharing more excerpts would diminish the ROI for those who wish to read it. 

[Book] Algorithms to live by: The Computer Science of human decisions

Do you like algorithms? And, like me, do you often get confused and frustrated with how to deal with humans in a rational, logical way? And.. Do you often wish there were computer algorithms to deal with human behaviour and interactions? 

If your answer to these questions is No, then don't read this book.

"Algorithms to live by: The computer science of human decisions" attempts to reduce complex, often chaotic human actions and decision-making processes to a set of well-defined mathematical rules. 
For example, how many houses you should look at before deciding which one to buy? (Short answer: 37%). Or which is the best way to sort your books? Or to schedule interviews of candidates so that you get the best person in shortest time? Or how to use the concept of caching to organize your papers in an optimum manner?

The book is full of such examples of how to use the mathematical theories that are commonly used in computer algorithms, into our day to day lives. The authors, Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths, have taken care not to faze and daze the reader with too much jargon, which makes this book an easy read. 

The only complaint I have about this one is: Even after reading 370 pages, I wanted more of it. That, perhaps, is less of a complaint and more of an acknowledgement of how good this book is.